The Female Dick
by MoonDancer478
Summary: What if Robin from Young Justice was a girl who did not hide her gender? This is the story of Rikki Grayson and perhaps the man she falls in love with... (originally posted on Quotev)


_Bruce was getting a little nervous. Here he was, at a circus filled with people who would probably pick-pocket him, and he had "lost" his wallet (at this circus, he was fairly certain that it was taken, not lost)._

_Where is that blasted wallet?_

_He was sure it was in his back pocket but when he looked, it was gone. He was nervous to say the least, considering that wallet was worth a fortune and one-of-a-kind. _"Sir!" A soft, high-pitched voice called out.

"Sir!"

Bruce ignored the call, assuming that it was aimed towards someone else, when he felt a small, little _tug _on his pants. When he turned around, he looked down and saw an adorable sight. A little girl, no more than twelve years old, was tugging at his pants. She had bright, curious, blue eyes and short, black hair that framed her face in a cute way.

Bruce was broken out of his thoughts by the little girl speaking again. "Mister, I think you dropped this."

The girl held up the wallet, and after coming to his senses, Bruce grabbed the wallet. Immediately, he opened it up, and upon checking it, he realized that it had exactly the same amount of money in it. Astonished, he turned towards the little girl and said, "What's your name?"

"My name's Rikki. What's yours?"

"My name is Bruce Wayne. I want to know if-"

"Rikki!" Bruce and Rikki looked up and saw a woman walking towards them.

_No doubt that's Rikki's mother. They look very similar._

"Rikki," the mother began, "Where have you been? Your father and I have been worried sick. You know you're not supposed to run off like that."

"I'm sorry momma, but Bruce dropped his wallet and it wouldn't be right to not give it back to him."

After hearing the name, the mother held a look of surprise on her face and stuttered, "B-Bruce? As in Bruce Wayne?"

"Yep!"

The mother immediately looked towards Bruce and started apologizing, "I'm sorry if my little robin has caused you any trouble."

Bruce chuckled and stated, "She wasn't any problem, I assure you. She's a delightful young girl, likely due to her parents' upbringing."

"T-thank you, Mister Wayne."

"Bruce is fine."

"Well then, thank you, _Bruce_. I would love to stay and talk more with you, but we should probably go backstage and get ready for the performance."

"You two are in the show?"

"Well, I've been part of the show for a while, but tonight will be my little robin's first night to perform now that she's old enough. She won't be doing any daring stunts, but she'll be out there with us."

"That's incredible, Miss..."

"Grayson. But if I am to call you Bruce, I insist on being called Mary. And thank you for the compliment, Bruce- Oh! Here comes my husband." Bruce turned around to see a tall, muscular yet slender man.

"Mary," John began, "The show's going to start soon. Why aren't you and our little robin getting ready?"

"We were about to start heading towards the dressing room. Sorry," Mary explained.

John replied, "Well, we really do need to get going."

"Wait Daddy! Before we go, I wanna ask Bruce something," Rikki interrupted. She turned towards Bruce and asked, "Are you going to see the show?"

Bruce smiled at the little girl and patted her head affectionately. "I wouldn't miss it for the world."

Bruce didn't really watch the show. He tried to enjoy the other performances as each one was unique and entertaining, but all he could think about was the family he had met earlier in the day.

_I wonder, what is their performance?_

"It is my great pleasure to present to you all the final performance, the great, the daring, the spectacular – give it up for… the Flying Graysons!" The ringleader yelled.

Bruce's head snapped back towards the stage. He saw a family performing, but couldn't find a little girl.

_Where is Rikki?_

Then, he saw her. She was flying with her parents, but she didn't do nearly as many stunts as her parents were. He couldn't help but be in awe of the performance. They were swinging and flipping and doing impossible things. When they should have fallen, they flew. It was incredible.

While he was watching, he saw the parents do a very complicated move, and just as they were swinging towards the landing with Rikki on it, their ropes snapped. As if time had slowed down, he watched the two fall down from the heights. The room was silent as they fell, almost as if it was a dream. A sickening scream tore through the silent dream, coming from the child above everything who was helpless to save her family.

The scream shocked everyone out of their stupor, and the crowd turned into a chaos. A revolting _CRACK_ could be heard when the parents landed on the ground, and Bruce knew instantly that they were dead. Rikki had climbed down the poll and ran towards her parents, but the ringmaster grabbed her before she could reach them.

"NO! I HAVE TO GET TO MY PARENTS! LET ME GO! MOM! DAD! LET. ME. GO!"

Rikki kicked and screamed, but the ringmaster would not loosen his grip on her. He dragged her out of the tent, and Bruce found himself following them.

Bruce finally found Rikki with the ringmaster in a circus tent. She was bawling her eyes out, and Bruce felt his heart go out to her. When the ringmaster noticed Bruce, he patted Rikki on the back and stood up. "What do you need?" The ringmaster demanded, obviously in mourning of the family.

Rikki turned around and faced Bruce. She choked out a small, little "Bruce" before running to him. On instinct, Bruce crouched down and scooped up the little girl, rubbing her back soothingly while she cried into his shoulder.

A small voice muffled by Bruce's suit whispered, "Where will I go now? My family… they… I…" Rikki started sobbing into Bruce's shoulder again, a new onslaught of tears pouring out her eyes. Bruce looked at the ringmaster. The ringmaster shrugged his shoulders and with a sigh, he replied, "She can't stay here."

Bruce nodded.

"I'll take care of her," Bruce stated.

The ringmaster looked at Bruce in shock, but then he heard Rikki's half-sobbing, half-laughing "Really?!" He softly smiled upon hearing that.

Looking into Bruce's eyes, the ringmaster nodded at him, a simple gesture that said so much. The ringmaster looked heartbroken at the thought of leaving the little girl, but the rules were the rules. So as Bruce looked into the ringmaster's eyes, they shone of a plea: _Take care of her._

Bruce stared back at the ringmaster and nodded with his eyes closed, answering the unspoken request: _I will. _With that, Bruce left to find the authorities so he could get guardianship of Rikki. That is how the broken bat found the resilient robin. That is how a family began.


End file.
